Sandblasting is a well known operation wherein a stream of fluid, such as air or water, containing a suspended granular material is directed against a workpiece. The abrasive nature of the stream cleans or erodes the workpiece on which the stream is directed.
At first sandblasting was commonly performed using an air compressor and sand in a non-contained or open environment. Uncontained spraying of the sandblast medium had the effect of creating a "sandstorm" in the immediate area of the workpiece. Further, the granular or abrasive material was not recaptured and recycled, thereby adding to the inefficiency of the sandblasting process.
Recognizing these limitations, cabinets were developed to enclose the workpiece and to contain and recapture the sandblast medium.
For over 50 years, sandblast cabinets have been marketed towards industrial applications such as commercial automobile repair and restoration. Industrial-type cabinets are sold as preassembled units and often have welded seam construction. These cabinets are very large, to accommodate a wide variety of workpieces, and may cost from $600.00 to over $4,400.00 depending on their size. For example, Snap-On.RTM. Tools which is a registered trademark of Snap-On Tools Corporation, offers for sale (for $4,450.00) a cabinet which has 35 cubic feet of working area, which can handle a workpiece up to 15 inches.times.36 inches.times.36 inches and weighs 800 pounds. A cabinet such as this is overbuilt and overpriced for the home hobbyist.
Because of their size and permanent preassembled construction, prior art industrial sandblasting cabinets require shipping via commercial freight carrier. The high cost of preassembled, industrial cabinets in combination with the shipping cost makes these cabinets prohibitively expensive for the home market such as automobile repair and restoration hobbyists.
In an attempt to penetrate the home or "Do-It-Yourself" market, some prior art sandblasting cabinets were scaled down to a size which can be shipped via a light parcel delivery service such as the United Parcel Service (abbreviated herein as "UPS"). For example, Guyson FormJet, Inc. offers for sale, for $219.00, a bench-top sandblast cabinet which is shipped by UPS. This cabinet, however, has a very small work chamber, approximately 16 inches.times.22 inches.times.13 inches. Further, Guyson's cabinet is molded from clamshell-shaped, lightweight, plastic components and is promoted as a good "second" cabinet for sandblasting. This Guyson design is top heavy and can easily tip over when a heavy workpiece is loaded into the chamber. Tip Sandblasting Equipment offers for sale, for $299.00, a bench-top sandblast cabinet which is shipped by UPS. This cabinet, however, also has a small work chamber, approximately 18 inches.times.25 inches.times.18 inches.
The scaled-down cabinets offered by Guyson, Tip, and other manufacturers have not been well received in the marketplace because they are too small to accommodate many of the workpieces processed by, for example, an auto restoration hobbyist. While Tip Sandblast Equipment offers for sale a free-standing cabinet having a larger work chamber, approximately 19.5 inches.times.34 inches.times.25 inches, this cabinet must be shipped by commercial freight carrier and costs about $750.00. Thus, no cabinet is currently available which has a work chamber and an overall price both of which are well suited for the home hobbyist.